The last time I was in Pittsburgh for baseball was the late 90s at Three Rivers when I was a teenager. When I saw my Braves were going to be here in August, my brother and I planned a day trip down from Western NY. We were both very impressed with PNC Park and the surrounding area.
We waited next to the right field gate before we could get in. There was a little fence with a concrete bench attachment across the access road we could sit in and enjoy the shade. Only waited about 3-4 minutes in line once the gates opened. They check bags, but you can bring one that is 16x16x8 in and you can bring up to a 24 oz disposable water bottle in for each person. Could get in 1.5 hours before and the Braves were about halfway through batting practice when we got there so we went to our seats to watch.
I picked up tickets (dugout box) at box office price on StubHub in March, but people around us said they got tickets right from the Pirates website this week there too. The seats were very nice. Patted bottoms, wide enough that you weren't totally squished. I was lucky and no one sat the in the two seats next to me even. There was a nice attendant for the section that cleaned off the seats and welcomed us in. He did a good job making sure kids got foul/extra balls and getting autograph hawks out of the way before the game. Though I would have liked to see the whole park enforce not having people go to their seats during game play.
I walked around some and they had many different choices for food but the lines were pretty long about 30-45 minutes before the game. Prices were typical for a ball park, though I think $4 for a bottle of water and $5 for a 20oz bottle of pop are excessive. $9 for a higher end milkshake, $5-9 for Dippin Dots, etc. I was full from the early dinner we ate so I had a Lemon Chill cup. It was like 16oz and only $5.50, so I enjoyed it for like half of the game and it hit the spot. My brother got Nachos later with two cups of the cheese, jalapenos, and onions on it and an Iron City Beer.
We parked at the W. General Robinson garage across the street and it was an easy in and out to get back on 279-N HOV lane and get out of downtown.
I'd definitely look to come back to Pittsburgh and catch more games in the future.